Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Friday stayed the state government’s order exempting T Branch (Top Secret Branch) of the State Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau from the purview of Right to Information Act. The HC criticised the state and observed that the provision of the Act shall apply to the T Branch.
A Division Bench comprising Justice P.N. Ravindran and Justice Sunil Thomas issued the order while considering two petitions filed by Indian Association of Lawyers Secretary Advocate K. Jayasankar and Aam Aadmi Party State Convener C.R. Neelakandan seeking to quash the order.
The court held “Even assuming that the VACB T Branch is the intelligence and security organisation, information pertaining to the allegation of corruption and human rights violation cannot be excluded. The petitioners have made a prima facie case. Hence, the operation of the notification issued on January 27 is stayed. The petitioners submitted that Vigilance issued the order restricting officers from issuing any information regarding the case investigated by the T Branch.
The T Branch is investigating the cases and corruption charges allegation against The Chief Minister, Ministers, MPs, MLSs and top IAS/IPS officials. The petitioner submitted VACB is not a security organisation or intelligence agency.
It is purely an investigation agency for investigating corruption cases against public officials, they submitted.
